National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Graco Children's Products Inc. (Graco), has determined that certain warning labels attached to detachable accessory pillows that it sold with MyRide\TM\ 65 line child restraint systems produced between April, 2009, and October, 2009, failed to meet the flammability requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) No. 213 \1\. Graco estimates that about 90,000 child restraint systems may be affected. Graco filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573 Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports on November 13, 2009.

NHTSA is soliciting applications for appointment or reappointment to DOT's NEMSAC. The purpose of NEMSAC is to serve as a nationally recognized council of emergency medical services (EMS) representatives and consumers to provide advice and recommendations regarding EMS to DOT and its modal administration, NHTSA, and through NHTSA to the Federal Interagency Committee on EMS (FICEMS).

Before a Federal agency can collect certain information from the public, it must receive approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Under procedures established by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before seeking OMB approval, Federal agencies must solicit public comment on proposed collections of information, including extension, reinstatement and consolidation of previously approved collections. This document describes a new collection of information for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval concerning recommendations from vehicle manufacturers regarding child restraint systems (CRS) that fit in their individual vehicles. Furthermore, NHTSA plans to combine the new information collection with an existing collection for obtaining vehicle information for consumer information purposes (OMB Control number 2127-0629).

This final rule establishes regulations setting forth specifications and qualification requirements for a Hybrid III 10-year- old size child test dummy (HIII-10C). In a companion document published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, NHTSA is adopting use of the dummy to test child restraints recommended for children weighing more than 65 pounds (lb) for compliance with the Federal motor vehicle safety standard for child restraint systems. The HIII-10C dummy enables NHTSA to assess the performance of child restraint systems in restraining children in the 8- to 12-year-old age range.

Yokohama Tire Corporation, (YTC),\1\ replacement tires for passenger cars, manufactured between December 2, 2007, and September 19, 2009, failed to comply with paragraph S5.5.1(b) of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 139, New Pneumatic Radial Tires for Light Vehicles. YTC has filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports (dated January 19, 2010).

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is concerned about the effects of distraction due to drivers' use of electronic devices on motor vehicle safety. Consequently, NHTSA is issuing nonbinding, voluntary NHTSA Driver Distraction Guidelines (NHTSA Guidelines) to promote safety by discouraging the introduction of excessively distracting devices in vehicles. This notice details the contents of the first phase of the NHTSA Driver Distraction Guidelines. These NHTSA Guidelines cover original equipment in-vehicle device secondary tasks (communications, entertainment, information gathering, and navigation tasks not required to drive are considered secondary tasks) performed by the driver through visual-manual means (meaning the driver looking at a device, manipulating a device-related control with the driver's hand, and watching for visual feedback). The proposed NHTSA Guidelines list certain secondary, non-driving related tasks that, based on NHTSA's research, are believed by the agency to interfere inherently with a driver's ability to safely control the vehicle. The Guidelines recommend that those in-vehicle devices be designed so that they cannot be used by the driver to perform such tasks while the driver is driving. For all other secondary, non-driving-related visual-manual tasks, the NHTSA Guidelines specify a test method for measuring the impact of task performance on driving safety while driving and time-based acceptance criteria for assessing whether a task interferes too much with driver attention to be suitable to perform while driving. If a task does not meet the acceptance criteria, the NHTSA Guidelines recommend that in- vehicle devices be designed so that the task cannot be performed by the driver while driving. In addition to identifying inherently distracting tasks and providing a means for measuring and evaluating the level of distraction associated with other non-driving-related tasks, the NHTSA Guidelines contain several design recommendations for in-vehicle devices in order to minimize their potential for distraction. NHTSA seeks comments on these NHTSA Guidelines and any suggestions for how to improve them so as to better enhance motor vehicle safety.

Utilimaster Corporation (Utilimaster) \1\ has determined that certain model year 2009-2011 Utilimaster walk-in van-type trucks manufactured between September 1, 2009, and December 22, 2011, do not fully comply with paragraph S4.2.1 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 206, Door Locks and Door Retention Components. Utilimaster has filed an appropriate report dated December 30, 2011, pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports.

The NHTSA announces a meeting of NEMSAC to be held in the Metropolitan Washington, DC area. This notice announces the date, time, and location of the meeting, which will be open to the public. This meeting will include a special roundtable event, hosted by the NEMSAC, regarding the EMS Education Agenda for the Future. The purpose of NEMSAC is to provide a nationally recognized council of emergency medical services (EMS) representatives and consumers to provide advice and recommendations regarding EMS to DOT's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Before a Federal agency can collect certain information from the public, it must receive approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Under procedures established by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before seeking OMB approval, Federal agencies must solicit public comment on proposed collections of information, including extensions and reinstatement of previously approved collections. This document describes an existing collection of information for motor vehicle tire and rim labeling requirements for which NHTSA intends to seek renewed OMB approval. The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period was published on December 1, 2011 (76 FR 74846).

Before a Federal agency can collect certain information from the public, it must receive approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Under procedures established by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before seeking OMB approval, Federal agencies must solicit public comment on proposed collections of information, including extensions and reinstatement of previously approved collections. This document describes one collection of information for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval to extend information collection. The collection involves preparation of certifications, and documents detailing how specific grant criteria will be met. The information to be collected will be used to and/or is necessary because it is required under 23 CFR part 1313, to apply for Section 410 grant funds. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13.

NHTSA is publishing this notice to inform the public of the scheduled upcoming meetings under the World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) and its Working Parties of Experts for calendar year 2012. This notice will provide the public with the most recent status of activities under the Program of Work of the 1998 Global Agreement and requests comments on various aspects of these activities. Publication of this information is in accordance with NHTSA's Statement of Policy regarding Agency Policy Goals and Public Participation in the Implementation of the 1998 Global Agreement on Global Technical Regulations.

On March 30, 2010, NHTSA published a final rule specifying the test methods to be used for a new tire fuel efficiency consumer information program (TFECIP) to measure three aspects of tire performance: Rolling resistance, wet traction, and treadwear. The final rule did not include any of the requirements for the consumer information and education portions of the TFECIP. Instead, NHTSA announced that, based on the comments the agency had received on the proposal that preceded its final rule, it had decided to conduct additional research before issuing a new proposal for these requirements. NHTSA hopes to issue this new proposal in 2012; however, it has decided that it would be helpful to have a public workshop to obtain feedback on some issues that either have proved difficult to explore effectively in the research NHTSA has conducted or have arisen since the publication of the March 2010 final rule. NHTSA invites interested parties to submit written comments and to participate in a public workshop using the instructions set forth in this notice. As described in the Procedural Matters section of this notice, each speaker should anticipate speaking for approximately ten minutes, although we may need to adjust the time for each speaker if there is a large turnout. To facilitate discussion, NHTSA has placed documents concerning research NHTSA has finalized since the March 2010 final rule in the docket. NHTSA will consider the public comments received in developing the new proposal regarding the remaining aspects of the TFECIP.

Dorel Juvenile Group, Inc.\1\ (DJG) has determined that certain child restraint systems manufactured between July 20, 2010 and May 18, 2011 do not fully comply with paragraph S5.5 Labeling of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 213,Child Restraint Systems. DJG has filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports (dated June 23, 2011).

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), on March 30, 2011 (76 FR 17746) the agency published a 60-day notice in the Federal Register soliciting public comment on the proposed information collection abstracted below. In further compliance with the PRA, the agency now publishes this second notice announcing the submission of its proposed collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and notifying the public about how to submit comments on the proposed collection to OMB during the 30-day comment period.

This document grants in full the Fuji Heavy Industries U.S.A., Inc.'s (FUSA's) petition for exemption of the Subaru [confidential] vehicle line in accordance with 49 CFR part 543, Exemption from the Theft Prevention Standard. This petition is granted because the agency has determined that the antitheft device to be placed on the line as standard equipment is likely to be as effective in reducing and deterring motor vehicle theft as compliance with the parts-marking requirements of the Theft Prevention Standard 49 CFR part 541, Federal Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard. FUSA requested confidential treatment for specific information in its petition. The agency will address FUSA's request for confidential treatment by separate letter.